Prayer for Friday

Father, we are a scattered lot of folks.Like Jonah, we obediently go when you ask but reserve the right to pick the destination.

We want the prestige of Tarshish, not the gritty work of Nineveh.

Remind us that you entered the margins of society, the issues that were too hard to face,

not those that merited news coverage and political posturing.

Remind us of the saltiness of our call, to live real lives and real stories,

even when they are real entry points to obscurity and a long obedience in the same direction.

We will not be headliners.

We will not even be by-liners.

But we will sit fully at the table with you.

Talking about the great mission you called us to that no one else ever heard about.

We embrace obscurity. The obscurity of place, circumstance, and time.

We do all this in your name. Amen.

(thank you to Eugene Peterson's books for some of the language here)